MLAX falls at No. 15 Michigan, 14-1

Box Score (PDF)

ANN ARBOR, Michigan – The Marquette University men's lacrosse team dropped its season opener to No. 15 Michigan, 14-1, on Saturday afternoon at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.

Senior attackman Conor McCabe scored the game's opening goal for the Golden Eagles (0-1) in the first game as head coach for former USILA All-American Jake Richard.

"You have to give a lot of credit to Michigan," Richard said. "They've proven to have a championship culture and have great athletes up and down the field. They put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't convert enough in early moments to slow them down."

The Wolverines (1-0) knotted the game at 1-1 on Ryan Cohen's first of two goals with 5:49 left in the opening quarter to send play into the second all square. From there, U-M scored five goals in the second, two in the third and six in the final frame.

Cohen had four total points on the day as did Jack Jenkins. Cohen, Jenkins, Bo Lockwood, Aidan Mulholland and WIll Byrne each scored twice for the Wolverines.

Marquette goalie Lucas Lawas and U-M's Hunter Taylor each made 10 saves on the afternoon and the Wolverines held a 49-26 edge in shots. U-M picked up 23 more ground balls than the Golden Eagles (38-15) and forced MU into 23 turnovers, including seven in the clear.

"Ultimately, you can't win a game losing the ground ball battle and clearing the way we did," Richard. "This isn't who we will be, but this is where we're at today."

NOTABLE

UM has been a mainstay on MU's schedule over the last decade, starting as a preseason scrimmage competitor before joining the regular season slate in the spring of 2018.
The Wolverines have claimed five of the seven regular season meetings in the all-time series and have won two in a row after MU's 14-9 win in Naples, Florida during the 2023 campaign.
Saturday was MU's first game at Michigan since a 13-12 loss to UM on March 11, 2020, also the final game of the 2020 NCAA men's lacrosse season, which ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MU redshirt freshman Jackson Nichols started the first game of his career on close defense as a redshirt freshman. Transfers Chandler Caster, Matt Caputo and Ty Ambush all made their MU debuts, as did as true freshmen Connor Schoenwetter, Brady Nicholas, Noah Snyder.
Lawas played all 60 minutes in cage for MU. He played just 38 minutes last season in net behind starter Caleb Creasor.

UP NEXT: The Golden Eagles return to Milwaukee to host their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 8 against Detroit Mercy at 2:30 p.m. Central time at Valley Fields.

Keep up with the Marquette men's lacrosse program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteMLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteMLax) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteMLax).